Russia is suffering high casualties and may have lost about 25% of its initial fighting force since the invasion at the end of February. The country is also struggling to provide adequately trained replacements.
- Mark Cancian, senior adviser in the International Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said Russian generals will probably get together at some point and tell Putin that unless he negotiates a ceasefire, the army will “break.”
- Cancian said the highly disturbing incidents in Bucha indicate some breakdown in Russian military discipline and that there have been reports of troops refusing to fight or killing officers.
- He said there is a lot of opposition to the war in the Russian population and that it will probably increase, even though the government has underreported casualties.
